Jack Kirby's Cosmic Football (Color)

Pen and ink on 11 x 14 bristol board. Inked with a Hunt 102 pen nib, brushes, and Rapidograph pens over light-boxed pencils by Jack Kirby. Digital colors using mostly the vintage palette. To view more examples of my work, please visit: jefftamplin.com.

The original image was pencilled, inked, and watercolored by Jack for PRO Magazine, the official publication of the NFL, and was published in the October 22, 1973 issue. The piece was later inked by Steve Rude and colored by Tom Zuiko for the cover of the Jack Kirby Collector issue 8 (1996), although at the time of that publication it was not attributed to PRO Magazine (view additional images to see both pieces). I colored this piece to suggest NFL themes, including typical NFL uniform and helmet face mask colors, and a "cosmic playing field" with hash marks.